Tuesday Torque: Reminder Of An Old Friend

An old friend, Ernie Werner, located this tractor south of St. Louis and asked his friend Cliff to go with him to retrieve it. Cliff took one look at it and tried to convince Ernie to forget about it. It was sitting clear down in the dirt, there was no paint, and the spokes in the rear wheels were rusted in two where they were buried. They winched it onto their trailer and the owner told them to stop at his house on the way out. He had all the wheel lugs but one in a crate. Ernie cast one lug out of brass to complete the set. Ernie was a good friend to many of the engine collectors in Illinois and Missouri, and we sure do miss him.